Following on from my piece about the demolition of the spire of St Peter’s Church, Highfields, in Leicester, in 1968, I was interested to find this photo taken atop Leicester Cathedral.

Thankfully, the men here were not in the process of removing our city cathedral’s spire, but actually repairing it.

At the time, in 1974, the cathedral’s 220ft spire was shrouded in scaffolding, whilst it was being cleaned, repaired and pointed.

Coincidentally, in January 1975, while the scaffolding was still in place, the weathervane at the top of the spire was loosened from its mountings by high winds and the surrounding streets had to be closed until steeplejacks put matters right.

The picture shows the two steeplejacks who erected the scaffolding on the spire, brothers Bob, left, and Dudley Finch.

And, contrary to my previously-mentioned aversion to heights, it can’t have bothered these two chaps in the least, as they look far from bothered, despite the fact that they are more than 70 metres above the ground!

Indeed, 1970s’ ‘elf and safety standards seem to have been very different to today – who needs harnesses or helmets? Never mind, it clearly proved to be one of the highest and most unique places in Leicester to have a fag!